Grooming and Gregariousness

So...I am finally a real boy!!! Er...sorry, wrong fairy tale. So...I am finally a real groomer!!! The corporate office e-mailed the news that I passed my training and am now eligible to make commission and to get a cool certificate. Yay! So my commission starts tomorrow, and even with me just doing the bare minimum of dogs and only doing small ones (which are less), I will STILL make $100 more than normal a week. Very nice considering my maternity leave (which is mostly unpaid), is going to leave me wanting for money. Anyway, I have savings for that specific reason so no reason to worry.
Work was good today, I only groomed three dogs and they all came out well. One was this little red-haired poodle with some sad story about many different homes, owners being committed to convalescent homes, shelter visits and the like. It was going to a new home tomorrow. It was the sweetest most well-behaved poodle EVER! The sad part is the fact that his teeth were gray and yellow and porous from rot and were rotting badly into his gums. His breath smelled so bad I could barely work. THEN he sneezed AND A PART OF HIS HORRIBLE NASTY TOOTH LANDED ON MY HAND!!!! Ahh!!! It was very gross and so it bears mentioning here. Oh--sooo---gross!!! My friend Jana had some cheery words of comfort as I was trying not to puke (the breath stench had already gotten me into a nauseous state): "at least it didn't land in your mouth." Thanks Jana. Thank you so much for the image.
So on the other side of things, I am having Thanksgiving at my place this year. It is not my first time cooking a turkey by myself and preparing the meal, but it is my first time hosting it. I don't see why housewives make such a big deal about it--I'm cooking for 8 people but I think all the chaos will be fun! I function well under pressure. As long as Sean and Joey don't try to "help" cook, it'll be okay. I'm making a turkey (even though I am vegetarian I have no problem handling and cooking meat and innards), macaroni casserole, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce (ok not making that one, just buying it), stuffing (again, probably buying it), candied yams, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and some form of bread. I have a small kitchen or else I would make the bread from scratch (I love making fresh bread). However, it'll be crowded enough trying to cook three things in the oven and getting them all out piping hot without worrying about fussy bread that has to have specific rising temperatures and bake conditions and all that. I think I'll cook the turkey, throw the casserole in at about the 45 min until completion mark next to it, then take those out and cook the yams. I have it all worked out--yay. I don't feel like I need to prove that I can make stuffing, cranberry sauce, pies and bread from scratch because I know I could and that's all that matters. Plus--no one cares. :-P
Anyway, I guess I will go...my littlest dog is getting all worked up because I came home and took a nap without playing with her (mortal sin), then she was whining to get of my room so I let her, closed the door, and wrote this blog. Now she is throwing herself at my door pathetically from the outside and whining with a toy. Really--my three other very playful (but respectful and not annoying) animals aren't good enough for her? Guess not. She sure has another thing coming in about a month. Thankfully with three adults in the house and only one baby my animals won't get completely ignored. Anyway, I'll write later! Probably while the turkey is cooking Thanksgiving morning. Or tomorrow--my first commission day!!! Totally my kind of job--the harder you work the more money you make, plus you make people happy and fall in love with their animals again. It's nice work.